


Just another night, right?

by mischief_managed_7



Series: Every minute [2]
Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Mentions of Cancer, Sick!Isak, eskild is their mom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 02:54:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10067264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischief_managed_7/pseuds/mischief_managed_7
Summary: It's the night before Isak's first chemo and he can't sleep, but Noora's a good flatmate and she reminds him that he's not alone.





	

He tried to make it just like any other night. He tried to watch one of the movies from Even’s list then turn his laptop off and watch the shadows the lights of passing cars made on the white walls of the dark bedroom before dozing off peacefully. But that was two hours ago and now he was still lying there, eyes wide open. He’d tried going to the bathroom, about an hour and a half ago, and when that hadn’t worked, he’d sighed so hard that Eskild had heard him from the living room and had advised a warm glass of milk. But that hadn’t worked either, and now even Eskild had retired to his room, with that boy who’d been around the apartment more often than not the last few days but whose name had somehow escaped Isak’s mind, what with everything else going on. 

He tried to put on some music; soft acoustic songs that bored him half to death but didn’t quite manage to make his eyelids grow heavy and his mind silent. He yanked the earbuds out of his ears, sighing again and burying his head under a pillow, the one that still carried Even’s scent. Now, with the frustration building and the darkness of the room becoming overbearing, he wished he hadn’t sent the older boy home. But Even had work the next morning, and needed his sleep, plus it was just another night after all, right? Wrong. But it was too late now and the faint whiff of that cinnamon shampoo he used was all that remained of him. 

Air becoming sparse under the pillow, Isak removed it from his face, hugging it to his chest. Except that, now, the room was still dark but no longer silent. Noora’s voice filled it, talking about life after Russ. She was talking softly, and pausing often, no doubt waiting for a response from Eva on the other side of the phone, but the walls were thin and with no other noise in the apartment, Isak could hear every word.

“I always thought I’d have it figured out by now, you know? I mean, when I was twelve, I decided I wanted to be a translator and then that’s why I moved to Madrid later, but now I’m not so sure; like, what if I’m not good enough? And also I’m not even sure I’d like it, so... It’s all pretty scary. Uh huh...Yeah, exactly! ... Well, I could always help you, in Spanish at least.... Yeah. But don’t worry, I’m sure this year will be better. But I know what you mean. It’s so short... Yeah. I guess there would be worse things than repeating this year. Give yourself more time to decide.... Right? Haha, Vilde would love it... No, I don’t think Sana would. She’s not scared of anything, I’m pretty sure.... Of course, I am. I’m a scaredy cat!... No, I’m excited, but there’s so much uncertainty in the future you know? ... Yeah... Yeah... Hmmm.”

Isak shoved the pillow back onto his face. He wanted to scream into it, or better even, throw the door open and yell at Noora. How dare she talk about uncertainty of the future when it seemed so certain? Certain at least that she would get a future while he might not? Not that he’d voiced this aloud. He’d reassured every last one of his friends that the odds were, in fact, in his favor and survival rates high. He’s not sure Sana was convinced, from the way her eyebrows shot up when he told her and the girls, but she kept her research to herself and her mouth shut, so the rest still believed him. But still... They had to know it was a possibility, right? Or maybe not. Or maybe it made them all too aware that the future was never certain. Maybe it made it that much realer that they all could die, any minute. Like from a nuclear bomb, he thought, smiling slightly to himself. He took off the pillow again. The girls were still talking, Noora laughing now at something Eva must have said. He sighed, and blanket draped across his bare shoulders, crossed the room and pulled open the all-too-thin door. 

“Can’t you two talk tomorrow? Or any day after that? We all have to get up early tomorrow and I can’t fucking sleep with all your gossiping!” he said angrily. 

Noora looked sheepish, “Sorry, Isak. I just couldn’t sleep and... Well, anyway, you’re right. I can speak to Eva tomorrow... Yeah, I’ll be there at 8... Yeah, okay, bye, good night,” she spoke into the phone, before hanging up and looking back at Isak. He realized he must be a sorry sight. He’d lost weight recently (thanks, leukemia), making his small frame look right down scrawny, and he hadn’t been able to sleep most nights since that day at the doctor’s a week ago. And now there he was, standing half naked with a blanket draped around him at midnight, yelling at his flatmate to shut it. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled, “I just really need to sleep.”

“No, that’s okay, I get it,” Noora answered without missing a beat.

“Well, I guess I’ll just,” he started nodding towards his door. 

“It’s tomorrow, right?” she answered, biting her lip and looking like she regretted speaking at all.

“Yeah,” he answered, avoiding her eyes. 

‘I’m really sorry. I just, well, I kinda forgot and... Anyway, I’m sure it will be fine,” she finished with a weak smile. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m not too worried, just had too much coffee today probably.”

“Right.”

“Yeah.”

“I mean, it’d be okay. If you were worried,” she added after a short silence.

“Nah. I mean, it’s just poison getting pumped into my blood, what’s there to worry about?”

Awkward chuckle. Okay, he thought, so maybe that wasn’t the right joke to make. He tightened the blanket around him. 

“Right, well, I’ll just go to bed then. Good night, Noora. And don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find the answers to life before the end of Russ,” he  
added with a small smile.

She laughed, this time for real. And just as he reached for the door handle, she spoke again, “Thanks. Oh, and, Isak, would you mind if I  
slept with you tonight? We forgot to put on the heater in here, so it’s kind of cold.”

“Yeah. That’s fine. Even says I snore, though.”

“That’s okay, the walls are thin anyway.” 

He smiled at her, “Yeah, I’d noticed,” he said, ushering her into the bedroom that used to be hers. “So, I usually sleep on this side of the bed...”

“That’s fine, I slept on the other one.”

“Right,” he said, trying not to make it weird, “Well, that’s chill then. I hope it’s warmer in here.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Good.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, good night, then.”

“Good night, Isak.”

“Thank you,” he whispered back, hoping he knew just what he meant it for. But before he could even wonder too much about whether she’d heard it, he’d finally fallen asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo I finally made this a series, yay! I don't like this as much as the first part, but I wanted to explore Isak's relationship with the other characters. Obviously, this is inspired by the scene where Isak is woken up by Eva and Noora talking about William, so creds to the Skam writers for that. Let me know if you like this and want me to keep writing it :)


End file.
